Hannan appointed youth team head coach, Mahmudullah named mentor

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) announced its new coaching panel, appointing former national team opener Hannan Sarkar as the head coach of the Under-19 team and former all-rounder Mahmudullah as the mentor on Monday.

Hannan, who served on the BCB's junior selection panel during Bangladesh's historic 2020 Under-19 World Cup victory and later became a national selector, transitioned fully into coaching recently. He served as the coach of Dhaka Premier League champions Abahani Limited last season and was the head coach of the reigning BPL champions Rajshahi Warriors. Following a stint as the head coach of the Under-17 national team, he has now been tasked with guiding the Under-19 team.

Five of the six coaching staff members for the youth team are local professionals. Former national team pacer Dollar Mahmud has been named the pace bowling coach, while Mohammad Saleem takes over as the fielding coach. Both had been part of the previous Under-19 setup.

The announcements were made during a press conference at Mirpur today. The board also revealed that Mahmudullah will serve as a mentor across various age-group teams, BCB development squads, and the High-Performance (HP) unit. Furthermore, former national opener Imrul Kayes will accompany the Emerging and HP teams to Australia as a mentor.

Speaking to journalists in Mirpur after taking charge, Hannan stated that his focus would be on producing capable future players alongside achieving positive on-field results.

The BCB also announced the launch of an analytics laboratory, which will initially be set up at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium indoor facilities. The lab will maintain a comprehensive video database of player performances from the Under-14 level up to the senior national team.